Truly it was a day out in Kingston. The main goal of the day was the Eastern Ontario-Southern Ontario Cyclo-Cross Challenge Race at Lake Ontario Park. This race is part of the OBC cyclo-cross series and is always good fun. Well, I should amend that – this year I had a lot of fun. In years past, I have found every excuse in the book not to race in Kingston. The course used to really stress me out. But not this year.

We arrived with enough time this morning to get in some good pre-ride laps. I did a few by myself and then went over a few of the tricky sections with Marc. This helped a lot and gave me some extra confidence. We watched the start of the first race and then I was off to the car to do the usual pre-race stuff: pin numbers, ponder tire pressure and relax a bit.

The race itself was a blast. I had so much fun. True, I did not race that hard at the beginning but after two laps I opened it up a bit and started racing. Not sure what clicked but something did and I started applying some pressure to some of the guys around me and to myself! All in all, a fun day was had on the cyclo-cross bike. You can read the race report over here.

I think the best aspect of the day was the people. I just felt so at home and welcomed at the race. I bumped into people I hadn’t seen all year. I met knew people. I was cheered on by so many different people. It was just great. The day reminded me why I fell in so hard with cyclo-cross racing. The community of people that come out every week to race, cheer, and hang out is just top notch. Also, the local OBC series is where I got my first taste of cyclo-cross. So it was nice to come back and race at “home” again.

Many many thanks to Bob, Cheryl, Ian, Rosemary and the countless other volunteers who were out super early this morning setting up the course, marshaling, timing, tearing down and really make this racing opportunity possible for us.

After my race I quickly changed into dry clothes and hit the streets of Kingston for my recovery ride. What a great little ride. I discovered some interesting bicycle paths and wound my way around the shores of Lake Ontario. I was impressed with how many people were out enjoying the fresh fall weather.

Quick change and a little bit of a clean-up at the car and we were off. Second item on the agenda was the outlet mall. It was pretty good. Lots of smooth clothing and shoes to be had. Bumped into the Austen’s and had a nice chat with them. It should be noted here that Ian Austen is the one who can be blamed for my bike riding life – way back in 1994, Ian took me to Pecco’s and there he and Greg Christie set me up with my first ever road bike. So many many thanks to Ian for helping set me on this path!

After a wander around we grabbed some lunch and made our way back home. But first we took a detour to Manotick Station to check out the general store. We had heard tales of the impressive Dutch licorice supply. It did not disappoint! Finally at close to 6 p.m. we rolled into our driveway and set to work cleaning bikes, doing laundry and getting sorted out.

Definitely a most excellent day was had. Apart from Marc’s bike problems, the day really was quite perfect. Great way to close off the weekend and get ready for my last week here in Ottawa. I’m looking forward to racing next Sunday at Kanata Lakes. Great way to spend my last day in Ottawa before getting on the plane for Belgium. Geez, amazing how time flies. Must be having fun!

Thanks again for the cheering, words of support and wisdom, and encouragement. See you next Sunday.

I’ve got a number of different ideas/themes for this post rumbling around in my brain. But really, I don’t know if I can do them justice. I know strange isn’t it? Usually, I just sit down and the magic flows from my fingers (okay, magic might be a bit extravagant…). But today, I’m struggling. Ah well, lets just stick it through and see what happens.

Excellent week of training. It is nice to be in a solid block of training right now. When I’m racing and traveling so much, it is hard to get in the training. Don’t take this to mean that I’m not riding my bike. Rather the bike riding when racing every weekend and traveling on Fridays and Sundays, means that for me, I’m doing a lot of “recovery” rides. I’ll recover for most of the week – with a mix of different lengths of rides and then open up the day before the first race of the weekend. And then continue this cycle the following week. The riding is a mix of road and ‘cross riding. But definitely no room in there for intervals or long rides. So now with a bit of break from racing, I’m able to really “train”. Wow, didn’t realize how much I missed these sessions. So far this week I’ve done two tempo interval rides and one sprint work-out and then interspersed some recovery rides on both bikes. Very nice.

For me, I like to have the sensations of hard training fresh in my brain when I’m getting ready for a race. It is one thing to have a fellow racer set the pace and put the pain in your legs and lungs. And a completely other thing to do this to yourself. This is what I crave. If I can put myself in the pain cave when I’m out training, I know that during a race, I can do this to myself and can respond to the efforts of my competitors. When I’m out on my bike digging through intervals, I always tell myself “remember this sensation. You want to feel this on the weekend.”

Which brings me to one of my ideas/themes for this post: what goes through your brain while you’re riding? Do you pedal along with a free and clear mind, taking in the surroundings and feeling of the wind on your face? Do you completely focus on whatever is pumping through your headphones – maybe an audio book, music, podcasts, etc? Do you work while you ride – plan meetings, craft letters/emails, plan company reorganizations, etc? What about positive self-talk – does that enter your brain?

You got it – I’m in the positive self-talk camp. (Yes, I listen to my iPod – usually a mix of CBC Radio, NPR, and Studio Brussels podcasts.) For me, the time when I’m out riding is a chance for me to work on building my confidence. This happens through the previously mentioned interval sessions and through mental talk. Sometimes I’ll even verbally express my mantras – yes – talk to myself. So, what do I tell myself? Yeesh, this is going deep here – really not sure if I want to tell you the complete nitty gritty. Hmm, on second thought – why not? Writing these out is also a useful method for reinforcing positive self-talk and mental imagery. So here goes:

“I am powerful. I am fit.”
“I am healthy. I am strong.”
“I am racing at the World Championships.”
“I love starts. I am a fast starter.”
“I am explosive.”
“I am an elite athlete.”
“I can do this. I will do this.”
“I belong.”
“Stay wide. Pedal. Pedal. Pedal.”
“Focus. Explode.”
“This is my year.”

So there you have it. This is what I think about and tell myself while I’m out there on my bike. There is no set pattern to these mantras. I just let them roll through. There are some rides when none of these enter my brain. Maybe I’m focused on the iPod or I’m feeling like taking in my surroundings. Who knows – but sometimes they don’t hit the radar. I’m so practiced at using this positive self-talk that I find these mantras entering my brain when I’m out doing other stuff – like walking to my office, driving, falling asleep, brushing my teeth, etc. From what I’ve read, this is the way it should be.

So there you have it. A bit more insight into what makes me tick.

Racing tomorrow. First local race of the season. Smooth. Off to Kingston for the Eastern Ontario-Southern Ontario challenge. Looking forward to it. It will be nice to see a lot of my friends and hang out watching the early race. I have to do a cool-down/recovery ride after the race so if you want to come along – just tap me on the shoulder and let me know. One hour of riding and chatting. Then some food in Kingston. Sounds like a pretty darn good Sunday.

Many of you have seen my red, white and black racing and training clothing. One sponsor that is displayed prominently is KingsBridge Disaster Recovery. Thanks to the support of KingsBridge, I am fortunate to be able to travel to and live in Europe for the winter months.

This is the second season that KingsBridge has supported me. Not only is this support invaluable but I’ve also gained some great new friends in the process. I’ve gotten to know the “guys of KingsBridge” really well over this past year. A good group of guys who are passionate about bikes and squeezing the most out of life.

I’m looking forward to flashing the KingsBridge name and URL around Europe again this winter! Many many thanks to Skip Williams (CEO of KingsBridge) for the continued support.

About KingsBridge Disaster Recovery
Since 1983, KingsBridge has helped hundreds of organizations requiring disaster recovery and business continuity planning. With a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective DR/BC solutions, KingsBridge has the perfect planning solution for your organization.

KingsBridge offers a range of products and solutions to address your organization’s specific needs and to get your plan created quickly so that you can begin protecting your company’s assets today.

* Phoenix our easy-to-use planning software creates a tailored DR/BC plan that can be printed or saved and updated. This software can be purchased and downloaded from our website for immediate use.
* Training seminars on creating effective disaster recovery and business continuity plans and maintaining your plan.
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KingsBridge Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Blog

Funny, typically these columns flow from my fingers so freely. But this one is a struggle. Perhaps because I feel like I’ve lived so much in the last two weeks. I want to capture every moment of it for you. But at the same time I don’t want to bore you with mundane details. But really, the last two weeks have been pretty intense. Good intense. Crazy intense. Kind of like a ferris wheel. Nothing too scary or unknown, but just enough uncertainty to test me and take me through a range of emotions.

At the start of the ‘cross season, I did not plan on flying to Italy for the Treviso World Cup and then hopping a plane the next day to fly to Edmonton to prepare for the Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Championships. But it happened. At times during the last minute planning of this trip, I thought I was a bit crazy. I was kind of unsure about traveling to Italy and racing a World Cup alone.

The flying part wasn’t a big deal. Rather it was the driving in Italy. The putting the bikes together. The racing of a World Cup. Packing up the bikes.

This was the stuff that had me wondering. But I told myself I’m only going to live once and if I have to go through some tough situations to reach my goals, then so be it. As for the driving in Italy? Well I rationalized by telling myself and others “if I had been born in Italy, I’d be driving there. So what is the big deal?”. Well, speed is the big deal. Italians drive fast and aggressively. It took me a bit but I quickly found my pointy elbows and the accelerator. Luckily, putting the bikes together wasn’t as bad as I anticipated – thanks to the miracles of cellular communication and a very very patient man on the other end of the phone. My friend and owner of The Cyclery, Vince Caceres, walked me through a tricky headset situation – thanks Vince.

The World Cup itself was awesome. Really awesome. I went into the race with absolutely no expectations. I’d never raced the course before. I watched a video from the World Championships so I knew it would be fast and grassy. I really had no idea how I would stack up against the elite field of women. I just knew that I wanted to have a good ride. I did have a few personal goals: don’t get lapped and don’t be last. Well, I’m pleased to report that I was in no danger of this happening to me. Typically my starts are the weakest part of my race, but on the day, I was able to pull out a good start and moved up from my last row start position to latch onto the end of the train. The race started so fast with dust and dirt flying from the word go. My goal was to just keep passing girls and to hopefully get in a group. Well I passed a bunch of girls but ended up riding alone. I had my eyes set on the rider in front of me and just focused on trying to catch her. I have to say that even though the Treviso course is not considered to be “technical” it is still one challenging course. There is one real leg burner of a run-up, a set of stairs, lots of tight turns followed by little climbs, and a long hill that doesn’t seem so gradual after 40 minutes of racing. And lets not forget the heat. It was practically tropical (well to a Canadian anyway) – 26 celsius made it a bit warm for the ‘cross racing. But I wasn’t complaining – soon enough I’d be back in Canada…

I finished off the day in 28th position. Good enough to net me 34 UCI points and 3 World Cup points. Cool. Very cool. A great day on the bike. I finished ahead of some girls who I had been chasing for the past couple of years. I kept my head about me when a flat tire a mere 30 minutes before the race occurred. Many thanks to Christine Vardaros and her husband Jonas for helping me out on the day – Jonas repaired my flat in lightening fast time and took my bike to the pit for me. Also, thanks to Christine for hooking me up with the hotel in Villorba – it was nice to hang out with some friendly people and to have someone to talk to before the race. Jonas was a massive help with checking over my bikes and making sure everything was tightened down. Thanks guys!

If you’ve never been to a World Cup or even an elite cyclo-cross race in Europe, it really is something else. I had kind of forgotten about the spectacle that comes along with cyclo-cross racing in Europe. I was parked across from the Fidea motor homes. (Really, I was in a sea of motor homes. Hmm, next race I’ll have to look into getting myself one…) My little Fiat wagon looked a bit pathetic when faced with Zdenek Stybar’s face on the side of his motor home. I had also forgotten how accessible the stars of the sport are. I exchanged pleasantries with Danny de Bie and stood so close to Erwin Vervecken that I could have hugged him. (I didn’t – don’t think that would have made a very good first impression. I’ll save the hugging for the Nommay World Cup!) One of the best things about the trip to Italy apart from the racing was seeing my cyclo-cross friends. Over the last couple of winters I’ve met a lot of people and it is nice to know that these friendships will be rekindled once ‘cross season starts.

I guess you could say I went from one extreme to another, the very next day. The day after the World Cup, I hopped on a plane (well, three planes) and finally landed in Edmonton, Alberta. As tempting as it was to stay in Italy for an extra day and be a tourist, I knew that the smartest thing to do was to get to Edmonton as soon as possible. I wanted to ensure that I was well rested and recovered from the travel for the two days of racing on the weekend. That 26 celsius? Lets just say it didn’t follow me to Edmonton. Nope, it was darn cold. In fact it was so cold that it snowed! This is why we Canadians have our national championships so early in the season. October 10 and we were racing in below zero temperatures with snow and ice on the ground.

I had a good five days prior to the racing to catch my legs again and get caught up on sleep. Have to say many many thanks to my hosts in St. Albert for welcoming into their home and letting me crash for a few days. Made a big difference in my trip to not be in a hotel room for the first few days. Marc arrived on Wednesday so this was super nice since we had been apart for a week. I know a whole week – but still… It was the first time in a long time that either of us had raced a big ‘cross race without each other (Marc raced in Gloucester when I was in Italy).

So onto Nationals. Strangely enough if there hadn’t been the snow and ice, the conditions would have been very similar to Treviso. Grass. Lots of grass. Dry short grass. But we had the snow and ice. This made for some slick conditions and really showed who could race fast and still control their bike. My race at nationals went well. Few ups and downs but a good ride. Yes, I would have liked to have been in the top five but it didn’t happen. I was in the top five for a bit but then a series of crashes and a bit of panic pushed me back to seventh. Seventh is good. I rode a strong race and met a few personal goals along the way. It was awesome to have the fans out in the bowl cheering us on as we wound our way up down and around. My parents made the trip to Edmonton to help us out and cheer us on – this was a great treat for us. One of the best aspects of the weekend apart from the racing was the people. I met some new people, hooked up with some other ‘cross friends, and was cheered on by complete strangers. Not too many sports where this happens.

My two weeks of travel and racing definitely covered both ends of the cyclo-cross racing scene. A very high profile World Cup with lots of media, ‘cross stars, crazed Italian fans and brilliant sunshine to the more low-key Canadian Championships with snow and ice, a dedicated force of Canadian cycling media, and a bunch of hardcore ‘cross racers. But the one constant between both is and was the community. The cyclo-cross community is deep and it is strong – it is what makes this crazy sport so worth doing.

(This was written for an online column that never came to fruition – so I thought you’d like to read it here.)

Apart from believing that today was Wednesday… It is only Tuesday… I’m starting to get back into my groove. I had a great talk with my coach today. Really helped to remind me about thinking of the big picture (i.e. the whole season) rather than focus on one bad moment.

Yes, I’m already starting to take some lessons from the weekend. Never ever take good race results for granted. Don’t expect to always be able to have an “A” race. Things happen – so what – move on – get over it. Don’t take my remission status for granted (I need to remember that I need to be careful with what I eat, rest, recover, and handle stress during race season).

I know I’ve got many many more excellent races in me. I also know that I’ll slip up now and then and will have a race I’m less than satisfied with. Good. This will keep me hungry and focused. Complacency is not my friend.

Got out for a fantastic spin on the ‘cross bike yesterday. Hit up the trails by my house. Forgot how the fall leaves change everything. I really felt like I was riding on new-to-me trails. It was a great ride. Just what my mind needed. Something so therapeutic about nature.

Starting a big training block tomorrow. So looking forward to it. You might be scratching your head and wondering how I can start a big block of training while I’m in an UC flare…. Well, the fascinating thing about this disease and me, is this, I feel best when I’m on my bike. The thing is, exercise causes the digestive process to shut down, thereby reducing my cramps and other issues. So, I want to ride my bike – it makes me feel better – physically and mentally.

Looking forward to racing in Kingston this weekend. More than the racing, I’m really looking forward to seeing all the Ottawa racers and catching up with the OBC cyclo-cross series action. Lets hope the weather stays nice – I have to do an hour long ride after the race (feel free to come out with me after the race – just an easy roll on the roads).